June 16th - Exploring the highest lake in the world

On the 15th, we rode out of La Paz in the very big, very comfortable tour bus that we will be using to travel around Bolivia as we get ready to do the climbing portion of the trip.

Our first stop was Tiwanako, which is the site of pre-Incan ruins – a very fascinating area. We wandered around Tiwanako in the morning.

Remember that this part of the trip is about acclimatization and Bolivia has one of the most interesting, and, in my opinion, ideal situations for this of anywhere we travel or climb. Our five-star hotel, the Hotel Europa, was at over 12,000 feet last night and now we’re driving around the Altiplano or High Plains of Bolivia at 12,000 feet and above.

We continued from Tiwanako to Lake Titicaca at 3,800 m or 12,500 feet. We crossed a narrow portion of Lake Titicaca on ferries and then we traveled on to the beautiful, picturesque village of Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca.

From Copacabana we took a boat ride out to Isla del Sol, Island of the Sun. We camped at a small village on the island.

On the 16th, we spent the day hiking or trekking across Isla del Sol, a fascinating and enjoyable experience. The people here have motorboat access to Copacabana and supplies that come from there. They have electricity. But there are no motor vehicles.

It’s a beautiful island to trek around. We visited small villages, the schools, and as you can see from the photographs we sent back, it’s a great opportunity for photography and again, for us, for acclimatization as we trek over 12,500 feet on Isla del Sol.

We returned by motorboat to Copacabana. Our hotel was right by the docks. And now we will be driving back across the Altiplano away from Lake Titicaca and we will approach our base camp for climbing instruction and the warm-up climb on this trip. We’ll spend four nights at Condoriri Base Camp.

I’ll report to you from there but the first three nights in Bolivia have gone great for this group. People are acclimatizing well, they are enjoying fascinating travel and we’re getting ready for a great climbing trip beginning with our ascents out from Condoriri Base Camp.